Buddhist Coaching solves three implicit problems:

• Psychiatry and psychology tend to pathologize. In other words, they work from the basis that there's something in you that needs fixing.
• Traditional Buddhist teaching tend to exist within a context inflexible hierarchies, whether it's the remnants of old monastic models, or just the idea of "I'm more enlightened than you."
• Informal situations of spiritual friendship form organic means of support, but often lack the leverage to effect full accountability.

Coaching is an entirely fluid process. It is informed by an idea that is central to Buddhist teaching, to General Semantics, to NLP, and clinical hypnosis practice, which Alfred Korzybski sums up so famously; "The map is not the territory." Maps are beliefs, unexamined values, decisions, the whole inner world of perception through which we create an image of reality.

Many psychotherapeutic and personal change models would agree that the map is not the territory. This understanding is at the center of Buddhist teaching and practice too.

A problem arises though, when we say, by implication, "Your map is not the territory, use mine!"

Buddhism warns against dogmatism, just as it warns against absolute relativism, or nihilism. The question is; how do we fully question each map, each model, without rejecting them all as being mere constructs? However illusory they are, maps do exist for a reason, and though they are only constructs they can nevertheless be invaluable. So, flexibility and fluidity are important.

Fluidity means being open to using any map, and being open to letting go of any map, for the purpose of going deeper, understanding better, and being more effective, functional, and congruent within yourself, and in your life. Fluidity is not inconsistency, it is a willingness to grow and learn, and to look at your values, and any internal conflicts that may exist within and between them. In other words, it lies in looking very carefully at what you value, including your beliefs and assumptions, and any decisions you may be making about what and who you are.

Buddhist coaching is a powerful modality. It combines the essence of the map we call Buddhism, which is about you evolving congruent values, unencumbered by rigid maps, with skills that help you be effective in the world. As a Buddhist teacher who has only recently started defining myself as a coach, I am excited to have let go of some old maps, and adopted some new, more fluid ones - Buddhist Coaching, in conjunction with NLP and clinical hypnosis tools, is a peerless modality for helping you move towards your own personal empowerment.